An AUV-Aided Routing Protocol Based on Dynamic Gateway Nodes for Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks

Abstract

Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks (UWSNs) are receiving growing interest due to their potential wide range of applications. However, underwater acoustic communication technology is constrained by continuous movement of the nodes, limited communication bandwidth and node energy, which introduce great challenges for UWSNs. A significant problem is the difficulty of simultaneously improving the service rate while also saving energy consumption. This paper proposes an AUV-aided acoustic communication protocol, which we have named AA-RP (AUV-Aided Routing Method Integrated Path Planning). AA-RP utilizes cooperation between multiple tasks to improve the packet delivery rate and reduce network consumption. AUV's dynamic path planning algorithms are integrated into the routing protocol. This integrated communication method relies on two phases: AAR (AUV-Aided Network Routing) and APPC (AUV path planning for communication). In order to evaluate the performance of this proposed method, a simulation is performed with NS3, which contains a UAN (Underwater Acoustic Network) module. The simulation results show that the method can reduce the network energy consumption with a good delivery ratio.